Gilles Perrin Irlande, 2007
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Irlande, comté de Cork, portraits,

diptyques, triptyques

LES HOMMES DE LA MER Loin des skippers de régates et des champions des traversées transatlantiques, il y a des hommes qui depuis des générations sont sur les mers et les océans pour d’autres raisons, sûrement moins prestigieuses et moins médiatiques. Ceux-là travaillent la mer, risquent leur vie car ils vivent de la pêche, qu’elle soit artisanale ou industrielle. Ce sont avant tout des professionnels au service d’une communauté humaine. Ils sont remarquables, car porteurs d’une culture et d’une tradition ancestrales. Pour moi, ce sont les passeurs d’un savoir-faire. Ce sont les visages de ces hommes qui m’intéressent, car quelle que soit leur situation actuelle, ils reflètent cette tradition, ce savoir si particulier. Chacun sait que la pêche mondiale est en crise. Les ressources halieutiques diminuent, la mer est surexploitée, les mesures nationales ou internationales pour tenter d’imposer une pérennité des métiers de la pêche pose de gros problèmes sociaux. Aujourd’hui, qu’en est-il de ces hommes, de ces “travailleurs de la mer“ ? C’est à travers une série de portraits de ces pêcheurs qui pratiquent leur métier à Cork et dans la région, que je voudrais faire un constat, un “état des lieux“ humain. En tant qu’être humain responsable mon métier est de faire des photographies, de témoigner. Bien sûr ce travail ne se veut ni ethnologique, ni anthropologique ; de plus il ne peut être exhaustif et refléter objectivement une situation sociale. Il se veut avant tout humaniste et curieux, voire sentimental. La pêche européenne, notamment la pêche irlandaise est amenée à disparaître dans les années qui viennent, faute de poissons. 40% du poisson consommé dans le monde est à l’heure actuelle du poisson d’élevage. Exemple le saumon. Gilles Perrin

THE MEN OF THE SEA Far from the skippers of regattas and the champions of Atlantic crossings, there are men who since many generations are out on seas and oceans for other reasons that are certainly much less prestigious and sensational; those work at sea, risk their lives since they make a living from fishing be it artisanal or industrial. These are, after all, professionals in the service of the human population. They are remarkable since they perpetuate a culture and an ancestral tradition.  For me, they are the perpetuators of a special savoir-faire. The faces of these men interest me since whatever their current condition may be they reflect this very particular tradition and knowledge. We all know that fishing world is on a crisis: marine resources are diminishing, the sea is being overexploited, and national or international measures that try to impose a perenniality of the fishing tradition are leading to severe social conflicts. The question that interests me is ‘what is the situation of these men today?’,  of “these workers of the sea”. It is across a series of portraits of fishermen who practice their craft in Cork and in the surrounding region that I would like to make an assessment, a human « inventory». As a responsible human being, my profession is to make photographs and to witness. Surely, this work does not attempt to be either ethnological or anthropological; moreover it cannot be exhaustive and reflect objectively a social context. It endeavours above all to be humanistic and curious, even sentimental.    In Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America, I endeavored to produce images in which the effects of style and anecdote have no importance.  I want to show the inside of someone rather than the mere exterior.  I don’t pray to the deity of photographic authenticity, but rather I keep an “arm’s distance” from the subjects I choose to photograph. I photograph and fix the reality of my encounter with the objective of enabling a later audience to the images examine themselves.  I allow each witness the opportunity to self-examine, or look away. For these series, I work with a photographic process adapted for large format photography.  I use a 4”x5” folding camera on a tripod and my subjects pose for me.  Using black and white instant film and working in negative/positive allow me to immediately give a print to my subject, while I retain the negative.  All shots are taken at a low shutter speed (one second to 1/8 of a second), a more “human” speed with which one can capture a breath or a heartbeat. Eager to avoid photographic “voyeurism,” I select my subjects on my strolls through each of the countries.  I do not try to abuse the aura of authenticity in photographs, but rather position myself at an appropriate distance from each of my subjects.  The tool that enables me to convey an understanding through my photos is simplicity.  No photos are taken furtively; there are no “stolen” images.  Although I am the one who ultimately depresses the shutter, there is always a dialogue with my subjects, explaining what I would like to do and how I work. My portraits are never anonymous.  Each of my portraits carries the subject’s name, recording, in many senses, who they are. Gilles Perrin